Ludovico Antonio Muratori

Born Oct. 21, 1672, in Vignola; died Jan. 23, 1750, in Modena. Italian historian.

Muratori became curator of the Ambrosiana Library at Milan in 1695 and chief librarian and archivist for the dukes of Modena in 1700. He published the basic narrative sources of medieval Italian history. His Annals of Italy is a detailed exposition of Italian history, mainly political, from the first century A.D. to 1749. His Medieval Italian Antiquities is devoted to the history of the institutions, manners, and customs of the Italian states from the fifth to the 13th centuries. Muratori also wrote on paleography, numismatics, and philosophy.